A candidate running to keep his seat on the Ysleta Independent School District school board is being questioned by opponents for his campaign logo, which looks like a district high school logo, and critics are scrutinizing the district for allowing its use.

Andy Ramirez, the incumbent for the District 1 seat in the Ysleta school board race, which represents the Riverside High School feeder pattern, has a logo on his fliers that looks similar to the Riverside High School Ranger badge.

Ramirez, who was elected in 2001 and again in 2007, said that he created the logo himself and that it simply resembles the Riverside High School logo.

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"I sat on the computer and created it myself and I'm proud of it," Ramirez said. "I've been living in this area all my life and I am a Ranger forever. I don't think there are any concerns. I'm not placing it in a bad light. I'm not selling drugs or beer. I'm just really proud to be a Ranger."

The Riverside Ranger badge is burnt orange and blue, and has the name of the high school on it as well as its established date, 1969.

Ramirez's campaign logo uses similar colors and has his slogan, "A Ranger Forever," circling the badge at the top. Ramirez graduated from the high school in 1978.

The Ysleta Teachers Association has alleged that Ramirez's use of the Riverside logo on his campaign fliers and mentions of the Riverside Alumni Association, which uses the logo, is an endorsement by the association and the district.

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Ramirez is running against candidate Ana Dueñez. Dueñez is being sponsored by the Ysleta Teachers Association.

Mary Marufo, president of the Riverside Alumni Association, said the association does not endorse Ramirez or any other political candidate.

Because the alumni association is a nonprofit organization, any endorsement of a political candidate could put its nonprofit status in jeopardy, Marufo said.

"He is a member of the association but we cannot endorse him," Marufo said. "In fact, during an enchilada fundraiser, I had to tell him that he could not pass out fliers at the event. He had given a few to a member for her to pass out as an individual but he put them away after that."

District officials said that because Ramirez was an alumni of Riverside High School and currently represents the area there is no issue with the use of the Riverside logo.

"Andy Ramirez is a YISD board member who currently represents the Riverside area," said district officials in a written statement to the El Paso Times. "He is also an alumnus of Riverside High. As such, the Ysleta ISD administration has no issue with his use of the Riverside High School logo."

Arlinda Valencia, president of the Ysleta Teachers Association, argues that had Ramirez's opponent tried to use the logo or created one that was similar, then the district would have asked her to stop using it.

"I have a problem with the district allowing an alumni to use the logo," Valencia said. "I also have a problem with the alumni association being allowed to use the logo as well. The alumni association is not connected to the district and the district does not allow any alumni to use their logo. But in this instance they allowed it. This is the district playing politics."

On Friday, district officials said that the district cannot endorse any candidate running for political office.

Although the district has not directly endorsed a candidate, it has been criticized in the past for alleged involvement in political campaigns.

In May 2012, the district superintendent Michael Zolkoski called a meeting to discuss the impact of an international bridge in the area.

The topic had become a hot issue in the race for the 16th Congressional District seat, in which U.S. Congressman Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, beat incumbent Silvestre Reyes.